Vaughan Bassett Art Deco Waterfall Dresser

This dresser was a Craigslist bargain find! Every once in a while, there is a piece of furniture that pops up on Craigslist that you just know has the potential to be a really cool project, and this was one of them. Before this dresser, we had never worked on a waterfall dresser, but we will be open to doing many more after this one. 

---

​Disclosure: The Sociable Home is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs designed to provide a means for The Sociable Home to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites at no extra cost to you; this page includes monetized links. Please see The Sociable Home's Disclosure for more details.

---

"So just like every project we had to decide what would be the focal point of the dresser.  Luckily, the veneer on the top drawer of the dresser was in perfect condition, so it became an easy decision, the top drawer would become the focal point of the dresser." 

This dresser was in pretty good shape, but we knew a few things would have to be corrected before it was ready for a new home. Almost all art deco waterfall pieces of furniture feature a lot of cool-looking veneers; however, over time, these veneers will chip away and come apart. This dresser was between 80 to 90 years of age, so there were definitely a few veneer issues. So just like every project, we had to decide what would be the focal point of the dresser. Luckily, the veneer on the dresser's top drawer was in perfect condition, so it became an easy decision; the top drawer would become the focal point of the dresser. ​

We used the following supplies on this dresser:

• Purdy 3-Pack Polyester-Nylon Blend Angle Sash Paint Brush Variety Pack​
• Behr UL260-23 Poppy Seed Interior Eggshell Enamel Paint
• Minwax Cherry Oil-Based Interior Stain
• Stain and Polyurethane Brush
  • There are many options for applying stains to wood. One such method is brushing on the stain. Make sure that you have an old rag around to wipe up any excess stain that may have dripped onto areas of the dresser that you do not wish to have stained and any stain that may have dripped onto the floor. Some other methods that you might consider using are using Staining Pad or just a cloth. 
• Minwax High-Performance Wood Filler
• Minwax Paste Finishing Wax
• Bosch 2.5-Amp Orbital Sander
  • Just remember, this is a staple item that will continually be used, so you can utilize this on a ton of DIY projects after you make the purchase. We decided on the Bosch sander because of the quality of the Bosch brand; however, you can probably get away with a cheaper option if you don't want to invest in a nicer sander and if you only plan on doing a few DIY projects with it. 
• Gator 50-Pack 80-Grit 5-in W x 5-in L 8-Hole Hook and Loop Sanding Disc Sandpaper
  • Depending on the type of stain that the original manufacturer of the dresser used, you may be able to get away with just sanding down the dresser without using any stain remover (This is huge because stain removers are a pain). Keep in mind that if the dresser is not solid wood, you may want to go with a more gentle approach, i.e., a combination of stain remover and hand sanding.
• Frog Tape Trim Painter's Tape
  • Frog Tape is a lifesaver if you are going for a more professional look. Generally speaking, it is time-consuming to tape up the dresser, but you will be happy that you did when you see the finished product. 
• CitriStrip 32 fl oz Paste Multi-Surface Paint Remover
  • CitriStrip is extremely effective, but we must give a warning; due to the fact that CitriStrip is thick and sticky it requires a little extra work to ensure that all of it has been removed from the wood, and it can be a headache later on if it is not properly removed (for us,  a combination of mineral spirits and steel wool seems to do the trick).  

The first step is to remove the paint from the dresser, so we turn to one of our favorite stripping gels, CitriStrip. We used a cheap paintbrush to apply the CitriStrip, and then we let it sit for a while. You will be able to tell when it starts to work because the paint will start bubbling up (the picture on the bottom left shows this). After letting it sit for a while (on this project, we let it sit for a couple of hours), we used a scraper and scraped off the paint. Sometimes you might need to use a little muscle to get the paint off. As we noted above, it is important that you ensure that all of the CitriStrip is removed, or it could affect your finish later on. ​ ​​

After we stripped the dresser, we still needed to sand it down. We started with our orbital sander using 80 grit sandpaper. Then, we hand sanded it with 120 grit sandpaper. This process seems to be quite effective in putting the dresser in its bare-bones state. ​​

Once sanding is complete, don't forget to vacuum out and wash off the dust. You don't want to get dust particles in your tape, paint, or stain.

After we sanded the dresser down, we made sure to tape the inside of the body and the inside of the drawers. It is always important to remember to tape the inside of the body where the drawers will slide in and out of it. Taping is not a necessary step, but if you want to have a re-purposed dresser that looks professional-grade, then every detail matters.

Before the chips were filled.

Once the wood filler hardens, it can be sanded smooth so that it is flush with the dresser's body.

Some of the veneer on the dresser was chipped, so we used wood filler to fix the chips before we painted. 

After the wood filler was sanded down, we stained the outside pieces of the dresser and the top drawer with cherry stain. This is backward from how we usually do stain on areas close to the areas that will be painted, but we needed to see how all of the areas would take the stain before we could finalize our design for the dresser. 

After the wood filler was applied and sanded down, we applied a coat of primer to the areas of the dresser that would be painted. Once the primer dried, we painted the dresser and the drawers that needed to be painted. 
 
 We were very excited about how this dresser turned out and are now looking for a new art deco waterfall dresser to work on! ​